Ex-Christadelphians

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"Life is not perfect, neither is it meant to be. It is a lesson and its lessons escape the Christadelphians because they believe they know exactly the meaning and purpose to life. In doing this they close themselves to so much that could have been experienced."

PLEASE NOTE: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect the views of all admins, nor the views of all ex-Christadelphians.
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If you have read any material from believers on the topic of morality you will no doubt be familiar with the idea that morality requires or implies the existence of a god, and the idea that we get our morals from God and/or the Bible. I disagree with both of these ideas, and in this article I will offer some reasons why.

"Science is a search for truth – whatever the truth may turn out to be, even if it’s evidently not what we wanted to believe it was. In science, it doesn’t matter what you believe; all that matters is why you believe it. This is why real science disallows faith, promising instead to remain objective, to follow wherever the evidence leads, and either correct or reject any and all errors along the way even if it challenges whatever we think we know now."

As someone who no longer believes in some kind of afterlife, I quite often come across the claim that life without belief in God or an afterlife must be meaningless and without purpose. I think the fundamental problem with this claim is that it is self-fulfilling. It is only true if you believe it to be true. But you don't have to believe it. There are other ways to look at meaning and purpose, just as there are evidently many ways to live a fulfilling life.

"Unfortunately, the Christian habit of emphasising the problems and failing to contribute to solutions is unhelpful. Just hanging around until Jesus comes to solve all the problems is not constructive. Surely it would be better, regardless of what we believe, to be actively working to make a better world now."

"There are days when I miss my old convictions as if they were an amputated limb. But in general I feel better, and no less radical, and you will feel better too, I guarantee, once you leave hold of the doctrinaire and allow your chainless mind to do its own thinking."

"My objection to supernatural beliefs is precisely that they miserably fail to do justice to the sublime grandeur of the real world. They represent a narrowing-down from reality, an impoverishment of what the real world has to offer."

THIS article contains a list of common features of groups that are generally considered harmful and potentially unsafe. There are several such lists online and many of them offer some combination of the features listed below.

If you recognise similarities between the warning signs listed below and your own ecclesia or even the Christadelphian religion as a whole, then perhaps it is time to ask yourself some critical questions or seek a second opinion from a counsellor or third party outside the religion.

When I first started having niggling doubts about my faith, I assumed there must be answers out there somewhere, it was just that I wasn’t smart enough or knowledgeable enough or spiritually mature enough to figure them out. Later, when these unanswered questions developed into serious doubts, I began to wonder what on earth was wrong with me. Everyone around me seemed to have such a strong, easy faith. Why did I alone seem to be struggling with doubts? Was I crazy?

"[Science's] only sacred truth is that there are no sacred truths. All assumptions must be critically examined. Arguments from authority are worthless. Whatever is inconsistent with the facts - no matter how fond of it we are - must be discarded or revised."

"Many people fear to apply themselves to a reconsideration of their own beliefs because 'You never know where it will lead you'. Even a minor reassessment of one topic is feared - '...how far would it go?' Still others think that there is no intermediate position between faithful adherence to a traditional stand and complete chaos where everyone has his own views and all differ from each other. All these attitudes I feel... to be faithless and wrong."

"There need be no scheme of rewards and punishments transcending this life to justify our moral intuitions or to render them effective in guiding our behavior in the world. The only angels we need invoke are those of our better nature: reason, honesty, and love."

“What if Jesus soon returns and you are left behind?
What if you are judged and your eternal life declined?
What if the kingdom really comes and loud you hear the shout?
What if the Christos enter in but you yourself miss out?”

"The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant with what we desperately want to be true. But our preferences do not determine what's true."

"It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. When it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. Life is long if you know how to use it."

"One unexpected consequence of becoming an unbeliever has been the increased awareness of my own mortality, and a heightened desire to try to enjoy the time I have. I am consciously enjoying the wonder of living more than I ever did as a believer."